Michelle Obama's Interior Designer Launches His First Home Collection

Interior designer Michael S. Smith is practically synonymous with good taste among celebrities—his clients include Michelle Obama (he was responsible for the 2010 White House makeover), Cindy Crawford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Spielberg, and many, many others.

Now, his reach can extend to those who might not have a mansion to decorate with his first-ever home line, which launched with a chic drop of candles and lipstick-printed linen napkins.

“It’s in its infancy but we are so excited about what’s to come,” says Smith. “I’ve developed so many one-off products for projects over the years that I miss.”

Lipstick printed linen napkins are "whimsical and charming."

Courtesy Michael Smith / Jasper Workshop

The new retail arm of Smith’s business is called the Jasper Workshop and all of his wares will be available for sale there. “It is harder and harder to find great stuff that is curated and interesting, but also easy to acquire. I like the idea that people can just go online in the middle of the night, or whenever, click and get,” says Smith.

Smith created three different scents, Cadaques, Escorial, and Greco’s Garden

Courtesy Michael Smith / Jasper Workshop

He focused on making the candles after he and his partner, James Costos, the former U.S. Ambassador in Madrid, decided to make a series of scents as Christmas presents this past year, based on their time in Spain.

Smith liked them so much that he decided he couldn’t let them go. “Candles are really important to me—there are a thousand-million candles out there and many of them are wonderful, but I wanted to make something I didn’t see on the market, that were based on my own memories,” he says.

He started with three different scents, Cadaques, Escorial, and Greco’s Garden, in etched colored glass. The napkins, which Smith describes as “whimsical and charming,” are based on a print made by a friend of Smith’s. There are more roll-outs planned for 2020, but Smith wants to move forward organically, releasing items that full truly special to him when they are ready.

“These will be all the things I can’t dare to let go," he says. "And as the ultimate user of my own stuff that feels really special.”

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